case study

Wightlink.

Overview

Wightlink are one of the UK's largest domestic ferry operators, carrying over 4.8 million passengers on nearly 48,000 crossings per year between the Isle of Wight and the UK mainland.

Sector

What we did

Challenge

There’s limited space on the bridge of a boat – especially when that boat is a ferry that has to navigate one of the busiest stretches of water in the world. But even ferries need computers – to help navigate, to communicate with the shore and other vessels, and to co-ordinate passengers.

Solution

So when Wightlink began using Novatech’s Pockit PCs in its head office in Portsmouth, staff there had a lightbulb moment over where else the tiny computers could be used.

Account Manager Jane Sukhu said: “I’ve been working with Wightlink for eight years, and the company have used us for PCs so they know our products. There isn’t a lot of room in its head office, so the Wightlink on-site IT support approached me about the Pockit. It fulfilled the needs of the company completely, and then Wightlink realised that a higher-spec version would be ideal on board the ferries".

The first ship to have the computer on board was the St Clare, which is Wightlink’s flagship, and that was put on there toward the end of July. Since then we’ve supplied eleven more Pockits for other ships, which now means the whole Wightlink fleet have our super computers on board.

Result

Mark Vallis, IT Services Manager for Wightlink, said: “The small size of the Pockit PC was ideal for our needs in the office, and when we saw it we quickly realised how good it would be on board the ferries. We have been working with Jane for a long time, so she knows exactly how to help us, especially in equipping our ferries with the Pockits within such a short timeframe.”